Influence of the Internet on Society

There's no doubt about the influence of the Internet on society. As for Pinoy's, millions  are virtually present in cyberspace today. These include social network sites, search engines and pages, blogging platforms, video streaming websites, chat rooms, gaming servers, and so on. But how exactly does the Internet influence Pinoy’s lifestyle? How did it begin? How did it progress? In what specific ways does the Internet through the aforementioned platform affect Filipinos? These are only some of those questions noteworthy to be talked about.

Image: xedos4 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The Internet was only introduced in Asia in the late 1980’s and started to gain an audience in the Philippines during the late 1990’s. At which time, local networks were introduced. Yugatech, one of the most successful local blog sites began about 11 years ago. PinoyExchange, the largest Philippine forum on the other hand started in 1999.

At present, the Pinoy’s are amongst the ranks of the highest number of Internet users all over the world in popular networks. These include social network sites Facebook and Twitter where the Philippines ranks among the top 10 worldwide based on comScore.com last year.

On blogging, Google Trends places the country in the 5th rank for its Blogger platform. Bryanboy.com, a fashion blog by a young blogger is a notable example of Pinoy contribution in the world of blogging.

On video streaming for social media, YouTube had opened doors for Filipinos in the international music scene. Herewith include the links of Charice Pempengco, Arnel Pineda of Journey, and Maria Aragon of the Lady Gaga “Born this way” rendition fame.

The Internet had influenced how artists in the entertainment world are discovered. It had been beneficial to a number of Pinoy artists such as those mentioned above. A channel for Pinoy music, movies, and other entertainment forms had been provided online.

Everything is more accessible for Filipinos too. These include banking, shopping, and reservations for flights, hotels, restaurants, movie seat, etc. Pinoys are starting to embrace the easy, automatic and convenient life through online services.

The same accessibility allows information to be easily disseminated over the Internet. This provides the option for all sectors of the Philippine society to let the general public know of important updates. Concerned Pinoy citizens can then interact and send feedbacks as well as suggestions to the government, news media outlets, and non-government institutions.

Filipinos have always been expressive of their opinion as seen in printed and televised media. The Internet had no doubt encouraged more of this freedom of expression online. The same freedom had also been abused and misused.

How Pinoys communicate with each other had also never been the same since messenger applications, chat rooms, and email were available online. Social networking allowed wall posts or tweets as they are called to conveniently let anyone share updates about themselves for everyone included within their network to see. With these, family, relatives, and friends are constantly updated about what’s going on with anyone they know.

These are only a few of the many  influences of the Internet on our society, particularly Pinoy lifestyle. Whether beneficial or not, the Internet will always have a place in every Filipino’s heart.